McAdoo was first big man to show off long-range jump shot and now it's commonplace

June 19, 2012|By Harvey Fialkov, Sun Sentinel

MIAMI — Sometimes when Heat assistant coach Bob McAdoo looks up from his clipboard and sees Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant launch a 3-point swish, he feels like he's looking in a mirror.

Take away the reading glasses, gray hair and about 35 years, and McAdoo wouldn't be too far off.

Because long before Dallas 7-footer Dirk Nowitzki and Durant earned the label of the NBA's best-shooting big men, came another gangly, 6-foot-9 sharpshooter who preferred the perimeter to the paint.

"My youth coaches wanted me to stay inside,'' said McAdoo before Heat practice Monday. "I'd have so many zones around me I'd get frustrated. You might go a quarter without touching the ball, so I started floating out practicing [long-range] shots until it became natural for me.

"Every time I see Kevin Durant, I really see myself.''

McAdoo and Durant were both No. 2 draft picks in 1972 and 2007, respectively. Both were Rookie of the Year. Both won three consecutive scoring titles by the time they were 24 years old, with McAdoo averaging 30.6, 34.5 and 31.1 points from 1973-76.

Durant, 23, has won the past three scoring titles, with his career-high of 30.1 points coming in 2009-10. His career shooting percentage is 46.8 compared to McAdoo's 50.3.

Durant is a prolific 3-point shooter and has made 37 this postseason (before Game 4). The 3-point shot wasn't instituted until McAdoo's eighth season in 1979-80, so he didn't practice from 23-feet, 9-inches, and only converted 3-of-37 over his Hall of Fame career.

"He's amazing and has got a lot deeper range than me,'' said McAdoo, 60, who calls Durant, 'Baby McAdoo.' "We never shot that shot unless we were two points behind and had to do it for desperation. Now it's a regular shot for people.''

Durant never heard of McAdoo until Thunder assistant coach Maurice Cheeks told him how similarly they played a few seasons ago.

"That's before my time,'' Durant said. "People compare him to me. He had such a great career that's a little too early for that. Hopefully, I can be as good a player as he was.''

Both began their careers in small markets with McAdoo playing for the old Buffalo Braves (now Los Angeles Clippers).

"Both guys could shoot it from anywhere,'' said ESPN radio analyst Jack Ramsay, who coached McAdoo his first four seasons in Buffalo. "Mac had the whole package. I see Durant as being a little quicker and elusive, but Mac had great straightaway speed.

"They shot it differently. Mac had almost a two-hand shot but it went in, while Durant has a perfectly executed jump shot.''

Both players never met a shot they didn't like, but Ramsay convinced McAdoo to pass once in a while.

"But if the player didn't make the shot, he'd look over to me,'' Ramsay smiled.

Some believe that Durant is getting into early foul trouble this series because he's guarding LeBron James too much. McAdoo scoffs at the notion that stars shouldn't guard stars.

"I matched up against the best scorers in the history of the game like [Kareem-Abdul Jabbar], Bob Lanier and Rick Barry,'' he said. "When you're young you really don't think about taking away from your offense, you just play as hard as you can and let the chips fall where they may.''

Perhaps the biggest difference between McAdoo and Baby McAdoo is the original has two championship rings won when he took on a sixth-man role with the Lakers in 1982 and '85. Time will tell.